Griffith restaurant remains closed after report of cocaine in customer's order

A Griffith restaurant's business license will remain suspended pending the outcome of a criminal investigation into how a packet of suspected cocaine got into a customer's order last month.

In a special meeting Tuesday, the Town Council voted 5-0 to wait until the Indiana State Police returns camera footage from Broad Street Gyros, 105 N. Broad St., from Nov. 21, the night of the incident, to determine whether it can reopen. The restaurant has been closed since Nov. 22.

Griffith Safety Board Attorney Sheri Bradtke McNeil explained to the council and Broad Street Gyros owner Carrie Demoff that the hearing was not a criminal hearing and that any evidence gathered by police wasn't "beyond reasonable doubt." She said officers involved in the incident would, however, go over probable cause.

Griffith Police Cpl. Al Tharp, under Bradtke McNeil's questioning, said that around 6:23 p.m. Nov. 21, the department received a 911 call from a woman who said she'd "found narcotics in her food." When he went to the house, the woman told him she'd just picked up her order from Broad Street Gyros but had received a phone call from a restaurant employee asking her to bring back an order of cheese sticks, Tharp said.

Tharp said the woman refused and as she scrutinized the order further, she found a plastic foam cup with a small plastic bag of white powder inside. Tharp said he then contacted Sgt. Jeff Gang and Detective Sgt. Kyle Strbjak, who secured a search warrant for the restaurant.

Strbjak said when he questioned the customer a week later, she played him a message about the order from the restaurant and identified the person as Demoff. He said she also said there was another woman she'd never seen besides Demoff working that night and that woman told the customer they "were going to hook her up" with the order.

"The woman thought she was getting more food," Strbjak said.

Strbjak said he tested the powder from the order, and it came back positive for cocaine.

No criminal charges have been filed.

K-9 officer Cpl. Robert Gutierrez said he and his partner, Gino, then went to the restaurant with other officers that night and Gino detected the presence of drugs in the women's bathroom around the sink and in an office drawer. Officers found no actual drugs, Gutierrez said.

Demoff told the council there was a woman who no longer works for her working that night.

"I have no idea what happened and they didn't find anything."

Strbjak said the ISP currently has the footage from the restaurant's security cameras but has been given no deadline as to when the footage will be viewed and available. Council President Rick Ryfa, R-3rd, said he would like to get the matter settled before the end of the year so Demoff can get back to work but said Wednesday the next meeting on the matter would be held after officers have had a chance to view the DVR's contents.

Demoff said after the hearing that she has "maybe a month" to reopen, before she won't have the money to reopen.

"I'm scared. (The restaurant) is my life," Demoff said. "People on the street seem to know more about what happened than I do. I'm shocked, embarrassed, angry."